Burn survivor from The Station Nightclub Fire now NFPA's newest blogger and fire sprinkler champion

If there was ever a story underscoring the atrocities of fire, this is it.

Rob Feeney was at The Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, the night a fire claimed the lives of 100 people, making it the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. A staunch advocate for fire sprinklers in all buildings, including homes, Feeney is now the Fire Sprinkler Initiative's newest blogger. Here is his inaugural post, a powerful and gut-wrenching recap of what happened that night from his perspective.

Signs were telling us to stay home the night of February 20, 2003. I was supposed to work but managed to switch for a day shift. It had recently snowed…a lot. It was cold and icy. Donna, my girlfriend, fell on the sidewalk in front of our Fall River, Massachusetts, apartment. She wasn’t feeling well and had no interest seeing ’80s hair band, Great White, at a nightclub. I complained about the pain from an inch-long splinter I got from a railing while running up a stairway. That didn’t stop me, though.

Mary was late picking us up, partly because the streets weren’t in the best driving conditions. We picked up Kathy before making our way to West Warwick, Rhode Island, to meet Pam at The Station. We arrived around 8:30 p.m., the club already packed. Once inside, we found a place inside to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a few hundred people. Mary joined me as I went to buy drinks because she wanted details on when I was going to give Donna the ring. Without saying much, she got me to tell her I already had (it was being sized). This was actually Donna’s night to tell her closest friends we were engaged.

Mary was late picking us up, partly because the streets weren’t in the best driving conditions. We picked up Kathy before making our way to West Warwick, Rhode Island, to meet Pam at The Station. We arrived around 8:30 p.m., the club already packed. Once inside, we found a place inside to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a few hundred people.